Category Archives: business funding

RICE ALLIANCE FOR TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION FOR GLOBAL STUDENTS STARTUPS

Application Deadline: 31 January, 2024

LOCATION: USA

With access to mentors, real-world experience and investment opportunities, the Rice Business Plan Competition helps graduate student founders from any university stay on target and realize their potential. Save the date for the next competition taking place from April 4-6, 2024 at Rice University, Houston, Texas.

ELIGIBILITY:

is student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed

has at least two current student founders or management team members, and at least one of those students is a current graduate degree-seeking student

are from a college or university anywhere in the world

has not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2023

has not generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period prior to July 1, 2023

is seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)

is a potentially viable investment opportunity

BENEFIT:

In total, more than $1 million in investment and cash prizes are expected to be awarded at the 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition. While prizes are still being confirmed, we anticipate many of the same 2023 prizes, plus a few new opportunities. 

APPLY

THE GSMA INNOVATION FUND FOR HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES

Application Deadline: Monday, 12 February 2024 at 23:59 UTC.

LOCATION: England

As global humanitarian needs continue to rise, there is an increasing demand to respond with innovative, impactful and scalable solutions powered by mobile and digital technology. On 11 December, the GSMA opened the GSMA Innovation Fund for Humanitarian Challenges. The Fund will provide grants as well as additional non-financial and technical support to projects that leverage mobile and digital technology to pilot and scale solutions that address humanitarian challenges in low- and middle-income countries.

ELIGIBILITY:

The Fund is open to applications from for-profit small and growing enterprises (commercially viable start-ups, small and medium enterprises, and social enterprises with up to 250 employees).

Be a small and growing enterprise.

Deliver humanitarian solutions to low-income and vulnerable populations in countries that are eligible to receive official development assistance

Leverage digital technology, especially mobile, to deliver solutions described in sections 1 and 2

Be an existing entity registered and operating in the country of project implementation (whether domestic or foreign-owned or a joint venture). In cases where responsibility for service delivery lies with a downstream partner (see section 4 for more details), rather than the applicant, for example, service delivery by a local organisation, it may be acceptable for the applicant to be registered in a country other than that of project implementation (see geographic specific restrictions in section 5).

Be fully compliant with relevant business licensing, taxation, employee, and other regulations in all applicable countries of grant project operation.

Be registered and have a bank account in the country where they will receive the grant money (if not the same as the project implementation country). This account must be capable of receiving GBP payments as all disbursements will be in GBP.

 Commit to providing 25% to 50% match funding depending on the total grant amount requested (see section 9). — Only one organisation can apply for funding and become a grantee.

Have active users and commercial revenue (users and revenue from any products or services offered by the organisation) in at least one eligible country (see section 5).

BENEFIT:

Successful projects will receive a grant of between £100,000 and £250,000 to scale their innovation over a 15 to 18 month period.

APPLY